» SINGAPORE, Sep 24 Gold firmed on Monday as the dollar held near a record low against the

SINGAPORE, Sep 24 Gold firmed on Monday as the dollar held near a record low against the

Published: Monday, September 24, 2007, 13:24 [IST]

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SINGAPORE, Sep 24 (Reuters) Gold firmed on Monday as the dollar held near a record low against the euro but gains could be limited because of the absence of Japanese players.

-- Spot gold rose to $733.50/734.20 an ounce from $731.60/732.40 late in New York. Gold rallied to a 28-year high of $739 on Friday on technical buying and short covering amid inflation fears and a falling dollar.

-- Investec Australia pegged support at $728 an ounce and resistance at $740 an ounce.

-- Japanese financial markets are closed on Monday for a public holiday, the day following Autumn Equinox. The benchmark August 2008 gold futures <0JAU:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange ended 27 yen per gram higher at 2,746 yen on Friday.

-- The most-active December gold contract on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $2.4 to $741.3 an ounce on electronic trade, after hitting another 28-year high at $747.1 an ounce on Friday.

-- The dollar held near a 15-year low against a basket of currencies on Monday and a record low versus the euro as the single currency's strength sparked worries and bickering among European officials.

-- Dealers are keeping a close eye on whether the dollar breaks the all-time low of 78.19 hit on its trade-weighted index in 1992, a development that could ignite a further sell-off in the currency.

-- The euro was little changed at $1.4090 , having climbed as far as $1.4121 on electronic trading platform EBS late last week -- its highest since the single European currency's launch in 1999.

-- The dollar fell to 115.26 yen but has rebounded from a low of 113.98 yen last week.

-- Platinum rose to $1,328/1,333 an ounce from $1,326.80/1,333.80 late in New York.

-- Palladium rose to $337/342 an ounce from $335/339 late in New York.

-- Silver inched up to $13.52/13.57 an ounce from $13.48/13.53 an ounce.